Sunday

BEREA If anyone ever questions whether Browns rookie running back Nick Chubb is all business, advise them to just ask him what he does for fun.

“Nothing. Just sleep,” Chubb replied Saturday during an interview with the Beacon Journal/Ohio.com before the ninth practice of training camp.

The second-round draft pick of few words and interests is more likely to make noise with his pads than his voice.

Nose tackle Larry Ogunjobi can attest. He thought he had stuffed a rushing attempt by Chubb in Friday’s intrasquad scrimmage until he realized otherwise.

“Ooooh, yeah, I like him,” Ogunjobi said. “I swore I had a [tackle for loss] on him on the goal line, even though I didn’t really wrap up well, but the kid runs hard. He runs hard. I feel like he’s going to be a really special player.

“His attitude, you always see him in the cold tub, in the hot tub, taking care of his body. My mentality when I came in was that even though I’m a rookie, I can still think like a vet, whether it’s taking care of my body, massages, yoga, stretching, all that kind of stuff, and I can see those traits in him. He brings his lunch box, his iron hat, and he just comes to work, so I’m excited to see what he does.”

Chubb rushed for a 1-yard touchdown in the Browns’ intrasquad scrimmage, but they’ll get a better taste of what he has to offer in the NFL when they visit the New York Giants for Thursday night’s preseason opener.

“He’s very quiet, very quiet, but he’s a good football player,” coach Hue Jackson said. “I’m glad we have him. I think we’ll see even more of him, his personality start to show, and what he can do on the football field as we keep going. I think the sky is the limit for him if he’ll keep working.”

Hard work and perseverance are central themes of Chubb’s proud family history.

Chubb’s ancestors founded Chubbtown in Northwest Georgia circa 1864. They were free African-Americans who built a community during the Civil War in a Confederate state.

“They were in complete control of their own town,” Chubb said.

Chubb was raised by his mother, Lavelle, near Chubbtown in Cedartown, Ga., after his parents divorced when he was young. His father, Henry, a descendent of the founders of Chubbtown who lives in nearby Cave Spring, Ga., passed down the knowledge of his family’s legacy.

The younger Chubb finds inspiration in what the town symbolizes.

“It’s about strength and facing adversity and kind of just always being looked at as road to your leadership, and you definitely struggle, but [it represents] overcoming that struggle and proving that you can do anything you put your mind to,” Chubb said. “I think that plays definitely a huge role in my life, just facing adversity early on and kind of challenging that adversity, getting a hold, getting a grip of it on my own and saying that I’m in control and I can do whatever I want.”

Chubb explained that he faced adversity growing up in a single-parent household with his older brother, Zach, and younger sister, Neidra. He watched his mom make sacrifices to provide for her family, sometimes working two jobs at a time.

By age 8, Chubb had begun playing football, and he developed an affinity for competing with his brother. In an effort to train, he would tie a rope around his waist and drag a tire around outside, something he saw someone do on TV.

The desire paid off. Chubb developed into a football and track and field sensation at Cedartown High School and then became the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year at the University of Georgia by rushing for 1,547 yards and 14 touchdowns on 219 carries (7.1 average).

But in the sixth game of his sophomore season, Chubb took a pitch to the left and suffered a devastating knee injury during Georgia’s first play from scrimmage at the University of Tennessee. Three of the four ligaments in his left knee were torn, all but the anterior cruciate ligament.

Chubb, 22, said he questioned whether he would be able to play again “maybe for a second, but when I knew I had a chance to come back, there was no second-guessing.

“My team, my family, my friends, just everyone in Georgia that wanted me to come back [fueled me],” he continued. “So I couldn’t let them down.”

Chubb, 5-foot-11 and 227 pounds, had surgery and began a grueling rehabilitation process.

“The physical part came easy once I was able to get on my feet and get back to work,” said Chubb, whose cousin Bradley is the defensive end from North Carolina State whom the Denver Broncos drafted fifth overall earlier this year. “There was nothing I couldn’t do. Lifting weights and running just kind of came back to me.

“The mental part of it, how secure is it, how safe is it, will it happen again — that’s the kind of stuff I dealt with. I tried different things, taekwondo for knee flexion and the mental aspect of me kicking things and making sure it’s completely safe.”

The comeback trail led to Chubb returning to action in the 2016 season opener, and he finished the year with 1,130 yards and eight touchdowns on 224 carries (5.0 average). He returned to Georgia for his senior season and flourished, rushing for 1,345 yards and 15 touchdowns on 223 carries (6.0 average). He finished his collegiate career with 4,769 rushing yards, behind only Herschel Walker on the Georgia and SEC all-time lists.

The Browns loved the quick feet, powerful lower body, good balance and ability to create between the tackles that Chubb displayed at Georgia. So, in April, they drafted him 35th overall, creating a three-headed monster with free-agent pickup Carlos Hyde and holdover Duke Johnson also in the backfield. All of them are expected to have significant roles.

Chubb said he’s eager for his preseason debut because he’s tired of hitting teammates.

“I’m confident,” he added. “I’m ready to just kind of get to it.”

Yes, even Chubb’s confidence is quiet. Three running backs were drafted before him. He’ll see one of them Thursday — the Giants’ Saquon Barkley, the No. 2 overall pick from Penn State. The others are the Seattle Seahawks’ Rashaad Penny (No. 27 overall from San Diego State) and the New England Patriots’ Sony Michel (No. 31 overall and Chubb’s former teammate at Georgia).

When asked if he wants to prove he’s the best of the class, Chubb simply said, “I’ll do what I’ve been doing. That’ll take care of itself.”

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